Search Climate Insights Directory

This policy brief by the Climate Policy Initiative examines recent developments in climate adaptation finance, highlighting the growing gap between estimated adaptation costs and current funding levels. It discusses the roles of the UNFCCC Adaptation Committee and the Adaptation Fund, the challenges in tracking adaptation finance flows, and the economic risks associated with nature loss as identified by the World Economic Forum. The document argues that addressing these challenges requires a fundamental rethinking of production, redistribution, and equity to support the most vulnerable populations.

This case study by Natural Justice details the legal battle between the Urgenda Foundation and the State of the Netherlands, resulting in a Supreme Court ruling that the Dutch government is legally obligated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to protect human rights.

This research paper examines the capacity of green bonds to bridge the global adaptation finance gap, specifically focusing on private sector involvement. The author concludes that while green bonds can finance adaptation, they currently do so to a very limited extent and are unlikely to significantly close the finance gap due to geographic mismatches, project scale issues, and a general lack of corporate climate risk awareness.

A statement by the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA) and Global Health and Climate Alliance (GCHA) addressed to the World Economic Forum in Davos, calling for urgent Australian government action on climate change following the devastating bushfires in South East Australia.

This report by RMI argues that the global climate should be viewed as a foundational infrastructure asset. It compares the high costs of climate inaction—categorized as direct physical losses, indirect economic growth reductions, and market uncertainty—against the relatively lower costs of preventive investments in energy efficiency, grid modernization, and carbon pricing.

This briefing note by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) explains how civil society can use the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs) reporting procedure to hold states accountable for climate change policies. It details the process of submitting parallel reports to secure country-specific recommendations, which can then be leveraged for national advocacy and litigation.

This guide, published by the Center for International Environmental Law in January 2020, provides instructions for drafting shadow reports to United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTB). It focuses on documenting the links between national climate inaction (or harmful climate solutions) and the violation of state human rights obligations.

This guide by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) explains how civil society can use the United Nations human rights treaty body (HRTB) reporting process to advocate for climate-related policy recommendations and hold states accountable for their human rights obligations in the context of climate change.

This guide by the Center for International Environmental Law provides a structured framework for organizations to draft parallel reports to UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies (HRTBs). It explains how to document the links between a state's climate inaction or ill-designed climate responses and its failure to meet human rights obligations, offering specific recommendations on content, formatting, and submission deadlines for various committees.

This guide by Friends of the Earth International (ATI) argues that gender justice and the dismantling of the patriarchy are essential for systemic transformation and the achievement of social and environmental justice. It advocates for a grassroots, anti-capitalist feminism to challenge interconnected systems of oppression, including capitalism, racism, neocolonialism, and heteronormativity.

This guide by Friends of the Earth International (ATI) argues that gender justice and the dismantling of patriarchy are essential for systemic transformation toward a sustainable and peaceful world. It defines popular and anti-capitalist feminism as a key tool for achieving equality and system change, emphasizing the intersectionality between patriarchy and other systems of oppression such as capitalism, racism, and neocolonialism.

This guide by Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) outlines a conceptual framework for achieving gender justice and dismantling patriarchy as essential components of broader systemic change. It advocates for grassroots, anti-capitalist feminism and ecofeminism to address the interlinked systems of oppression—including capitalism, racism, neocolonialism, and heteronormativity—that exploit women, LGBTQ+ people, and nature.

This report details the history and current state of e-commerce negotiations at the WTO, focusing on the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI). It examines how existing WTO rules apply to digital trade, the growth of the JSI membership to 83 countries, and the critical divides between developed and developing nations regarding data flows, customs duties, and technical capacity.

This research paper by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) analyzes various proposed regulatory approaches to prohibit fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing within the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. It specifically examines how to balance environmental sustainability with the development priorities of developing and least-developed countries, including food security and poverty reduction.

This report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) synthesizes the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) regarding climate change up to 2020. It details the Committee's use of General Recommendations, Joint Statements, and the State reporting procedure to establish that States have human rights obligations to protect women from climate-related harms and ensure their participation in climate policy.

This briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law synthesizes the work of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) regarding climate change. It details the Committee's use of General Comments, a Joint Statement with other treaty bodies, and the State reporting procedure to establish that States have human rights obligations to mitigate climate change, protect vulnerable populations, and provide international cooperation and finance.

The World Resources Institute identifies four priorities for COP25 in Madrid: increasing national climate ambition (NDCs), finalizing rules for carbon markets (Article 6) and NDC time frames, reviewing the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage, and increasing financial support and capacity-building for developing nations.

A statement from World Resources Institute's Leonardo Martinez-Diaz regarding the Green Climate Fund's first replenishment, which saw 27 countries pledge $9.7 billion.

This briefing by Zero Carbon Analytics summarizes the IPCC's Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, detailing the accelerating degradation of polar regions, oceans, and mountain ecosystems. It highlights the irreversible nature of some changes, the risks to global sea levels and water security, and the resulting threats to biodiversity and human livelihoods.

This fact sheet details a certified green loan issued by Elliot Green Power in December 2018 to finance and refinance three solar farms in Australia.